Cold Coffee Brewing (+ Recipes!)

As summer starts to wind down, thoughts naturally turn to warmer beverages—but don't put away the ice yet! We're actually big fans of cold coffee all year round (have you ever tried a pumpkin cold coffee?!) and it's our favorite way to brew our Bourbon Barrel Aged coffee that we'll release this fall.

With several ways to enjoy cold coffee, we get asked lots of questions about how cold brew, flash brew, and iced coffee are different.

Flash brew is a specific way of making iced coffee quickly and is our preferred method in our cafe. Cold brew isn't usually called iced coffee even though, yes, typically you serve cold brew over ice (but you don't have to)...confused yet? These might just seem like slight differences in naming, but brew method makes a big difference in how your coffee tastes—and how much you enjoy it!

We made this simple infographic so you could see the main differences between flash brewed iced coffee and cold brew in, well...a flash!

Recipes!

There are a lot of ways to brew cold coffee, so don't view these recipes as THE methods that needs to be used—these recipes represent just a few of the ways we make cold coffee ourselves! Feel free to customize and experiment with grind and ratios of grounds to water. The most important thing is that YOU like the end result of whichever method you choose! Happy brewing!

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Flash Brew Chemex Recipe

Recipe

30 g - Coffee ground medium-coarse (a step or so below French Press)

225 g/ml - Ice cubes in cup or glass

225 g/ml - Water fresh off the boil

Steps

1. Weigh out coffee and grind medium-coarse
2. Bring water to boil
3. Put filter in Chemex, rinse filter with hot water and pour the water out
4. Place Chemex on scale and tare
5. Add ground coffee
6. Pour just 60 g/ml water just off the boil over the grounds
7. Let grounds bloom for 30-45 seconds
8. Pour remaining 165 g/ml water over the grounds
9. Once water has drained through, discard filter leaving Chemex on the scale and tare
10. Add 225 g/ml ice to the Chemex and swirl Chemex to encourage cooling
11. Pour coffee into glass and add more ice if desired. Enjoy!

 

Sarah's Cold Brew Recipe

Yield: 24-28 g (710-828 ml) concentrate

Note: Making cold brew requires having a way to steep the coffee grounds and then filter the grounds out. This can be done as simply as using a large container and a filter bag. But there are also lots of options out there that you can buy to make the steeping/filtering process simple. This recipe is the one I use along with the Oxo Cold Brew Coffee Maker (I've been making cold brew with it for 5 years!) but the recipe is simple and transfers to other methods like a Toddy or a bucket/filter bag.

Recipe

284 g (3.5 cups) - Coffee ground extra coarse (like French Press) 

40 oz (1.2 L) - Cold water

Steps

1. Weigh out coffee and grind extra coarse
2. Place all coffee in brewing container
3. Weigh 10 oz (295 ml) water and pour over grounds
4. Let grounds bloom for 8 minutes
5. Weigh the remaining 30 oz (887 ml) water and pour over grounds
6. Let the coffee steep for 14-24 hours (this can be at room temp)
7. Filter the grounds using your preferred method
8. Pour concentrate into a bottle and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks
9. To serve: Pour 2 oz (59 ml) concentrate into a cup
10. Dilute concentrate with water or cream at preferred ratio—either 1:2 or 1:3. So for 2 oz, add 4-6 oz (120-180 ml) water and/or cream plus ice
11. Enjoy!

 

Justin's Iced Aeropress Recipe

Recipe

16.5 g - Coffee ground medium-fine

125 ml - Ice cubes in cup or glass

125 ml - Water fresh off the boil

Steps

1. Weigh out coffee and grind medium-fine
2. Place cup or glass on scale and tare
3. Weigh 125ml of ice cubes into cup or glass
4. Place base of Aeropress with filter on top of cup or glass
5. Add ground coffee
6. Bring water to a boil
7. Pour 125ml of water just off the boil and stir for 5 seconds
8. Start Timer
9. Place plunger in base of Aeropress at an angel and then pull up to create a vacuum
10. Steep 2 minutes
11. Swirl Aeropress and then slowly plunge, ending at 2:30
12. Discard spent coffee puck from Aeropress, rinse and enjoy!

 

Bonus Tip: This summer two of our most popular iced beverages were espresso sodas—Blueberry Lavender 'Sproda and Watermelon Lime 'Sproda. These drinks were made with espresso, sparkling water, and simple syrup. But you don't need espresso to create a similar taste at home...you can create your own coffee sodas by brewing your coffee cold, adding sparkling water, and a simple syrup. Don't be afraid to experiment with flavors!